Steel form for concrete roads and runways



May 18, 1 4 A. R. CUTHBERTSON ET AL 8,48

STEEL FORM F OR CONCRETE ROADS AND RUNWAYS v Filed April 5, 1953 I INVNTOR$ I & curuaemrsow W A.CUTHBRTSON arr qyev.

Patented May 18, 1954 STEEL FORM FOR CONCRETE ROADS AND RUNWAYS Alexander R. Guthberts o'n 'zixidGeorge 'A.

Cuthbertson, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application April 3, 1953, Serial to; 346,613

This invention relates to steel rail-form comblnationsof the type employed in connection with the preparation of concrete roads or airstrip nw y ,lngthis field of activity it is customary to provide a form to limit or bound a masonry road strip and at the same, time to provide a rail structureto support a massiveconcrete mixing and spreading machine which straddles the work area and'moves on wheeled bogies upon the railshaped ,tops of" the said forms.

It is known to provide a device of the character indicated'comprising a hollow tube-like form, saddle members disposed, within the respective ends of the'form and having their supporting surfaces at a higher plane at their inner ends than at their outer ends and horizontal fishp1ates,'som,etimes called horses for (supporting the said saddles. a 1 i M11; is alsoknown ,to provide adevice of the above .character in which a, horizontal boss of curved shape is positioned along the inside of the form andlwherein a seriesof wire stakesis posijtionedl along the said boss to providebraces and flrmifootingsj for locating the form upon the ground.

* Ina further aspect it, is known to provide pedestals and baseplates upon whichthe rail can be fastened by any convenient means and having each base fitted with an aperture to recive 'one'or more stakes whereby the said base platescan be fastenedto the ground. "*Itnwillbe evident that, apart from the expansive thrust upon the web of these rail-like formsby'the concrete which they restrain, there 'is 'also an immense weight imposed uponthe ia'il-t'op'by the spreading machinery, and this latter weight is, during operation of the machine, subjectto extensive transverse urgings which sometimesaid and sometimes oppose the expansiv thrust or the settling concreteiill. In

short, these rail like forms are subjected, in use,

towery considerable disruptive forces.

At'th same time it is essential that the forms shall be portable, not of excessive weight or unwieldiness, per'se, and that they shall be capable of being very firmly set up so that they are able towithstand the battering incidental to repeated use on one job after another.

Furthermore, the forms must be capable of being readily removed from the roadway after thecement pavement has set.

is a rather large order, and prior art 'efforts'have not succeeded in providing a rail- Iorm which combines lightness and mobility, with 13 Claims. (01. 25 118) 2 a desired firmness'of alignment to a survey and an adequate resistance to deformation while'i'n situ.

The applicants have discovered a novel method for supporting and connecting steel forms that are. of; light weight and of mobi1e configuration, so as to adequately resist the deformations which have plagued the users of this kind of apparatus in the past. v

According to our teachings a rail-form iiicludes a main member of preferably heavy gauge steel sheet, having an outwardly extending horizontal portion designed to provide a wide footing over the entire length of the member, a vertical web-portion of a predetermined width, a re-entrant outer end integral with said web, and forming a rail to support a machine, a first angle support having a horizontalportion extending inwardly from the said web and positioned in co-planar relation to said horizontal portion of said member at one end thereof and a vertical portion positioned vertically in contact with said web, a second angle support similarly positioned with relation to said member at an intermediate position thereupon, means for detachably clamping said first angle support to said web, means for detachably clamping said second angle support to said web, and box-saddles integral with said horizontal member and bonded to said web and having apertures to receive stakes for fastening said form to the ground.

In a novel aspect, the angle brackets include ontheir vertical portions a boss or dowel pin and an eye shaped lug which we call a keeper. The

. web or a member associated therewith contains apertures for receiving the said dowel pin and the said keeper. When angle plate is pressed against the web the dowel and keeper pass through these apertures and a taper pin is driven into the eye of the keeper whereby the angle plate is firmly but detachably fastened to the web. i

In a further novel aspect, a special joint-plate is provided, having an aperture to receive the keeper. -Each end of the web is notched at a position corresponding to the location of the keeper. When two rail-form members are joined in abutment, the notches are in juxtaposition, and the angle plates in this case has two dowels, one indexing with each form; the keeper passes through the notch and the joint-plate is passed over the keeper and resides in a vertical position between the dowels. When the taper key is inserted in the eye and hammered tight, the joint plate and the angle plate are drawn together and ness of bond between the abutting forms.

arev firmly attached to the abutting webs of the 7 two form members. In this way two successive thus preventing a fluid masonery material from seeping into the joint, or spilling over to the outside of the form. 7

These teachings will now be further described with reference to an embodiment of construction exemplified by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 depicts an elevation of a freshly constructed road strip restrained at its sidesby two sets of rail-forms constructed in accordance with our teachings.

Figure 2 shows a perspective view with shadow details of portions of two abutting rail-forms according to our teachings.

Figure 3 shows a detail of the dowel and keeper of an intermediate angle support.

Figure l'shows a detail of a joint between two rail-forms showing the dowels, joint-plate and keeper.

" Figure 5 is a section along the lines 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an exploded View of the assembly 7 comprising a rail-form end, an angle bracket, a

formcomprising a horizcntaloutwardly extend- 4;.

ing portion 2, a vertical web 3, and a re-entrant 'portion fiat the outer end of Web 3 and forming a rail.

A first angle plate 5 comprises an inwardly extending portion 8, a vertical portion 7, abutting the web 3, two dowel pins 3, e, and a keeper 1%. Dowel pin 8 passes through aperture l i in web 3 and dowel pin 9 passes through aperture 42 in web 3. The keeper it! passes through respective notches i3, i3 in webs sand 3 respectively and through aperture is in joint plate i5. A transverse plate is welded or otherwiseattached to the joint plate iii to extend downwardly and outwardly above aperture Hi to form a shed or shield for the keeper and the key that fits therein. Taper key ii is driven intothe eye of keeper in to lock the assembly together and joint plate l5 seals the joint line between rail forms l, i to prevent slurry from extuding through the framework of the form.

Boxsaddle 58 which is bonded by welding or other suitable meansto both the web 3 and horizontal portion 2 has apertures therein and in the horizontal member to receive a stake i9 by which the rail-form is fastened to the'ground. The box saddles may be disposed in any desired plurality along the length of the rail-form; in addition to providing means for staking the rail-form to the ground, they also reinforce'the assembly to provide added rigidity and freedom from twist.

'(These box saddles could, of course, be formed 7 directly in the rail-form by extruding them in a vide means for attaching the second angle plate 29 to the'web of'rail-form I by means of taper key ll. Only one second angle plate is shown. It is evident that any plurality of these plates may be employed if required.

The joint plate may include a bent portion 25 designed to mesh with the interior contour of the rail so as to add rigidity to the assembly.

The horizontal portions 6, 20, of the angle supports are tapered toward their free ends and bevelled on all edges so that they can .be readily withdrawn from the work when the slurry has set and the rail-forms are removed, to be used over and over again on successive jobs, or sections of a project. i

It is now evident that a rail-form constructed 0 in accordance with the teachings of our invention is very light in weight, is easy to assemble on the job using simple tools, is easy to dis-assemble after the job has been completed, can be curved or angled to suit survey contours, and when staked'into position possesses a rigidity and resistance to twist and other types of deformation that is much greater than that afforded by the much more bulky and more cumbersome constructions of the prior art. 7 a

To dis-assemble the form it is necessary only to remove the stakes, knock out the taper-keys, and remove the main members and angle plates 7 from the work. The work is left smooth and relatively free from extrusions, and the like.

It is evident that various modifications of the illustrated construction can be made without departing from the broad spirit of our teachings. All such modifications are to be regarded as lying within the ambit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A steel form of the type described comprising a main member having an outwardly extending horizontal portion extending throughout the length of the said member, a vertical web-portion of predetermined width, a re-entrant outer-end portion integral with said web and forming a rail, a first angle-support having a horizontal portion extending inwardly from the said web and positioned in co-planar relation to said horizontal portion of said main member at one endthereof and a vertical portion positioned vertically in contact with said web, a second angle-support similarly positioned with relation to said member at an intermediate position thereupon, means for detachably clamping said second angle-support to said web, means for detachably clamping said first angle-support to said web, and box saddles integral with said horizontal member and bonded to said web and having apertures to receive stakes. j

2. A construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein the said means for detachably clamping the said angle supports comprises dowels and keepers, meshing apertures for said dowels and keepers in said web member, and taper key means associated with said keeper for urging the said angle supports. and the said web into fixed relation. 7 I

3. A steel form of the type described comprising a plurality of members of the kind defined in claim 1, each abutting the other at ad'jacent ends, first angle plates common to the abutting ends of successive said members, dowel pins in said angle plates, respective apertures in each said member for receiving respective saiddowel pins in indexed relation, a keeper in each said first angle plate, correspondingslots forming a joint aperture in the abutment of said ends" indexing with said keeper, joint-plates, one at each said abutment positioned in parallel relation against the common plane of the webs of said abutting members, apertures in said jointplates indexing with the said joint aperture, and. taper key means dimensioned to engage the eye of said keeper.

4. A construction of the kind defined by claim 1, including a joint-plate, an aperture in said joint plate positioned to receive a clamping member, and a transverse reinforcing web positioned adjacent said aperture.

5. A construction in accordance with claim 1, wherein the said horizontal portions of the respective said first and second angle supports are tapered outwardly and are bevelled on all outer edges.

6. A steel form of the type described comprising a main member having an outwardly extending horizontal portion extending throughout the length of the said member, a vertical web-portion of predetermined width, a reentrant outer-end portion integral with said web and forming a rail, an angle support having a horizontal portion extending inwardly from said web and positioned in co-planar relation to said horizontal portion of said main member and a vertical portion positioned vertically in contact with said web; and means for detachably clamping said angle support to said main member.

7. A structure as set forth in claim 6, in which there are a plurality of the angle supports, and in which said angle supports are located at intervals through the length of the main member.

8. A structure as set forth in claim 6, in which the means for detachably clamping the angle support to the main member include an apertured keeper and a tapered key; said keeper being rigid with the vertical portion of said angle support for projecting through an aperture provided in the web portion of said main member, and said key being adapted to be driven into the opening in said keeper to lock the web portion of the main member and the angle support together.

9. The combination with a concrete form of the kind described comprising a plurality of main members or sections arranged in end to end relation and each having an outwardly extending horizontal base portion, a vertical web portion, and a re-entrant top portion forming a rail; of means for co-acting with said base portion to provide an auxiliary footing, said means including angle supports disposed at intervals along said main members and each having a horizontal portion extending inwardly from said web portion and positioned in co-planar relation to said horizontal portion, and a vertical portion positioned against said web portion; and means detachably clamping said vertical portion to said web portion.

10. A structure as set forth in claim 9, in which the vertical portions of the angle supports are provided with keepers and dowels engaged in apertures supplied in the web portions of the main members, and in which taper keys are wedged in holes in said keepers to lock the web portions to the vertical portions.

11. A structure as defined in claim 9, in which an angle plate straddles abutting ends of adjacent main members and carries dowels engaged in holes in said abutting ends, and in which a keeper is carried by said last mentioned angle plate and projects through complementary notches provided in said abutting ends and has its protruding distal end engaged by a taper key.

12. A joint assembly for a rail form comprising form sections arranged in abutment and each having a base part outwardly in horizontal direction from a vertical web, the assembly including an angle support disposed at the inner side of said form sections to straddle abutting ends thereof and having a vertical part in contact with said vertical webs, and having a horizontally extending part extending inwardly from said vertioal webs in co-planar relation to said base parts, dowels carried by said vertical webs, a keeper projecting through complementary notches provided at the edges of said vertical webs, and a taper key wedged in a hole in said keeper and clamping said vertical webs to said vertical part or" the angle support.

13. An assembly as defined in claim 12, in which a joint plate is provided at the abutting ends of said form sections, said joint plate having an aperture by which it fits over the keeper and is clamped by said taper key, and said joint plate having a downwardly and outwardly ex tending guard plate disposed over the keeper and the taper key forming a shed therefor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,512,165 Funkhouser Oct. 21, 1924 1,858,644 Smith May 17, 1932 2,489,851 Bean Nov. 29, 1949 

